I sat in a low chair in front of the Governor’s desk. The look on his face told me of his dissatisfaction with my height, as I still came up to eye level with him as he sat. He stood so that he could look down on me from behind his desk.
I replied as I looked back at his bodyguards who were standing behind me, "What I have to discuss with you, Governor, is of a very personal nature to you. You might want to have your people wait outside."
One of the guards placed his hand on my shoulder. The Governor waved his hand as if to say no.
"Mr. Wells, could you and your associate please wait just outside? I am perfectly safe here in my office."
The two men hesitated, which drew an angry stare from their boss. When the two had left and closed the door, the Governor turned his attention back towards me.
The Governor leaned over on his desk. "Mr. Beutcher, as I am sure you know, my time is quite valuable. Please get on with what it is you have to say."
I replied, "OK, direct, I like that."
I held up my arm pad. "Since shortly after my arrival on this station, it came to my attention that a large amount of stolen property was being brought onto this station. Under the authority of the New Alliance security service, I have been conducting an investigation into this activity. The short of it is, Governor, that you have been robbing this sector blind."
The Governor grew angry and began to reach for a button on his desk.
I raised my hand. "Before you call your friends back in here, Governor, you might want to listen to all I have to say."
The Governor slowly pulled back his hand. "Go on, Mr. Beutcher. You have my attention."
I nodded. "Good. First, I would just like to say that I have a full report waiting to be transmitted to security headquarters in the Alpha sector. As you know, that is where I was sent from."
The Governor frowned. "You were exiled to this sector because you screwed up."
I smiled. "Don’t you find it odd that there was no mention of how I screwed up, Mr. Marcos? If you dig into my past, you will find out that I am only one of four detectives to ever receive a fifth star. Now, you tell me, Governor, why would they exile a five-star detective? Think about it; what better example to parade around in front of the people for political purposes?
"I will tell you what I am doing here, Mr. Marcos. I have been sent out here by Harden Salton himself, to clean up this sector. He has big plans for the colonies out here. Now, I don’t know what those plans are, but I can assure you that changes are coming in a big way."
The Governor sat back in his chair. "Why should I believe anything that you are telling me?"
I began pulling the recordings I had made up on my holo-display. "I have sworn statements from twenty-eight of your captains, I have images of much of the contraband you have been gathering, and I have knowledge that the entirety of level 5 has been made into a museum of sorts where you are storing all this stolen treasure.
"So, here is what we are going to do. There is an entire colony structure on Effica, left over from the slavers. It is empty; only a few salvagers have had enough guts to travel there. You, Mr. Marcos, are not going to run for Governor in this election. You are instead going to transport all your contraband out to Effica, where you can establish your own colony."
The Governor stood again, with anger showing on his face. "You think I am just going to pack up and leave because you say so? I OWN THIS STATION!"
The Governor reached over and pressed the button on his desk. "Mr. Wells! Get in here!"
The door to the office opened, and Brad Wells’s unconscious body was thrown in on the floor. Harga then stepped through the door with a smile.
The Governor’s expression quickly turned from one of anger to one of fear.
Cal Hoog squeezed in through the door behind Harga. "How was my timing?"
The Governor looked at me. "This is a coup?"
I smiled. "Call it what you will, Mr. Marcos. However, it would suit you better to think of it as a way out for you. You have been robbing the people of their treasures, you have been caught, and you are being offered an alternative to being turned over to those you have stolen from. I am told that emerald statue you recently acquired is almost an item of worship for the people on the colony it was stolen from. Imagine what they would do to you if you were placed in their custody."
The Governor sat back in his chair.
I continued, "So, you will be escorted from this office. You will smile and wave as you pass by your staff. You will let them know that you will be off station for a few days on important business. You will be flown out to Effica with Mr. Wells and his associate to assist you, where you will establish your new colony.
"We will begin shipping the items on level 5 later today. If you have any important staffers that you would like to take with you to your new home, please identify them as you walk. We will see to it that they are transferred out there to be with you."
The Governor replied, "You do realize that the slavers will not sit idly by while you take over this station. If your goal is to clean up this sector, you will have an all-out war on your hands."
I nodded. "I have taken that into consideration, Mr. Marcos. You are going to continue to act as our liaison for the time being."
The Governor raised his hands. "And just how am I going to do that?"
I replied, "You will tell them that you needed more space than what SS241 had to offer. You will tell them that the new Governor is a puppet that you put in place, who answers only to you. For the slavers, you will have to convince them that your move does not affect the status quo.
"Now, it’s time we got this under way. Go with Mr. Hoog and round up the staff that you would like to take with you. You will be escorted down to Bay-12, where several ships will be waiting to transport you to Effica. And just let me remind you, if any attempt is made to alter what is taking place here today, Mr. Harga will be there to see that you get what you are asking for."
As the Governor rose and approached the door, I spoke. "Mr. Marcos, we are giving you this one opportunity to leave peacefully, with all your contraband. I would suggest you go out that door with your usual political smile. We have the manpower to take this station with little struggle if needed. You would be wise to fully cooperate."
The Governor walked out.
In my brief meeting with Marcos, I had filled his head with lies. My goal was to offer overwhelming reasons for him to comply with our demands. We did not have the manpower to take control of the station, and I was in no way working directly for Harden Salton. With luck, we would have the Governor on a ship heading for Effica before he had a chance to think it all through. If we could get him off the station and out to Effica, he would be under our complete control.
The Governor, his stolen items, and his cronies were moved out to Effica without incident. All comm channels on the planet had been scrambled, with only a single channel coming out to our team left available. Four ships were enlisted to patrol the space around Effica in an attempt to limit the former Governor’s contact with others that he might enlist to work against us.
The surprise elections on SS241 had taken place, and as planned, Cal Hoog was the new Governor. Within days, the security services, the judgeships, and all administrative positions that were purely political in nature were scrubbed of any support for the former Governor. The huge budget that had been diverted for Marcos’s private use for years was restored. The elevators going down to level 99 were made a priority project. Life on SS241 was changing for the better.
I walked into Bay-68 after a good night’s sleep in my quarters on level 99. Malcom sat in his chair, facing Gerald, who was fast asleep in his.
The Captain made a rare appearance as he walked over to Malcom and Gerald. "Mr. Beutcher, come over here. I have some news for the lot of you."
The Captain continued, "As you all know, we have a new Governor. From that, we also have a new Chief of Security. And from that, we have had a modest budget restored. I now have on order arm pads and desk systems for each of you to make use of. We will be installing the standard software package used on all the security stations in the alliance. We are finally being brought into the modern age!"
Malcom scowled and Gerald rolled his eyes as the Captain grinned.
The Captain spoke as he waved all four arms. "Mr. Beutcher here has extensive knowledge of the new software package. I will be tasking him with your training. And if the two of you have any ideas about being difficult with your adoption of the new programs, you had better start looking for a new job now. This stuff isn’t portal science. All you have to do is follow a few simple steps to initiate and enter a report. And by the way, we will be getting a scheduler to assign inspections, so expect the pace of work to pick up."
The Captain turned to leave and then stopped. "Oh, and by the way, we will be having three new inspection detectives starting in the next few weeks. If any of you know good maintainers, we are going to need them. In the meantime, you will all have to share."
When the Captain had finished his speech, he headed back for his office. He had mounds of paperwork to complete before the new systems would come online.
Malcom turned towards me with an angry look. "You did this, Beutcher."
I laughed. "Maybe it’s time you started earning that salary, Mr. Barber. Maybe it’s time we all did. I am certain we will be assigned the occasional slaver transport; perhaps we should try to work out a plan of how to deal with them without causing a confrontation."
Malcom raised his arms. "And just how would we do that? They kill or enslave anyone who gets in their way! They get worked up over the slightest interference."
I replied, "They are businesspeople, Mr. Barber. We negotiate with terms that they find acceptable."
Malcom shook his head. "Terms they find acceptable? I can tell you what those terms will be. They will be that we accept whatever it is they want us to do. I don’t think you have an understanding of just how powerful these people are. We have a handful of security ships here to deal with what are probably a hundred armed ships.
"They have armor and they have weapons. Meanwhile, we are flying around in these ancient personal taxis they call security ships. You can’t negotiate with savages when you are in a position of weakness. They could overrun this station and kill everyone on it in a day."
I nodded. "That is why we need a plan, Mr. Barber. You have knowledge of the slavers, how they operate and where they operate. Instead of complaining, why don’t you try to contribute some of that knowledge?"
Gerald pulled his hat back on his head, exposing his eyes. "I know the slavers. I can tell you whatever you need to know. I’ve been transporting their agents back and forth for years. I can even tell you where they are active, and who you might negotiate with. They aren’t savages as Malcom says, although they can be if you get in their way. They are just businesspeople with production orders to fill."
Malcom scowled. "I knew you were running with them. You probably had Hal killed, didn’t you!"
Gerald stood with a balled fist and angry face. "Hal was a fool. I tried to save his life, but he insisted on popping off to the first thug they sent his way. And who are you to talk, Malcom. You have been going around letting everyone think you are the one that had him done in. Truth is, Mr. Beutcher, neither one of us had anything to do with it. Hal got himself killed."
I replied, "OK, well, we know they won’t hesitate to take any one of us out. That may change if this station is viewed as once again being in control. They are businessmen; they won’t want a war."
Roger walked around from behind Malcom’s ship. "I might have a solution for you to pitch to them."
Malcom turned around with an angry expression. "Don’t you have a reverse thruster to fix? Get back to work and quit bothering us!"
Roger walked over and leaned in close to Malcom. "I’ve put up with you and your condescending remarks for too long. Now, unless you want a life-ending malfunction to happen on your next trip out, I would suggest you start treating me with a little more respect."
Gerald chuckled. "This just isn’t your day, is it, Malcom."
Malcom turned a hostile gaze toward Gerald.
I spoke. "Roger, if you have a potential solution, we would be interested in hearing it."
Roger snarled at Malcom and replied, "OK, the way I see it, the slavers need bodies to sell. They probably average a hundred kidnappings a day. What if we instead provide them that labor force they are looking for? What if we make a business arrangement with them to provide bodies? Every colony in this sector has at least one prison, and most of those are over capacity. We start trading off prison time for hard-core labor."
Malcom scowled. "You can’t take a criminal and pawn them off as conscript labor! That’s not legal!"
I nodded. "It may not be legal at the moment, but we now control the judges in this sector. Because of the black market nature of the slave trade, I would need a return on investment analysis to be worked up showing the benefits of prison labor over slave labor. As you said, there is an abundant supply of prisoners in this sector. I'm sure most colony Governors would heartily approve of someone taking some the worst prisoners off their hands."
Gerald leaned back in his chair, placing his hands behind his head. "You know, that idea is crazy enough to possibly work. You would have to sketch out most of the details ahead of time, but presenting a case to them where they could possibly gather more credits while running a legit business—I think they would go for it. The ones you would have trouble with are all the thugs they employ. There are some bad characters in that group who might have difficulty with a transition."
I stood for several seconds in thought before replying. "I will set up a meeting with the Governor. If we can get his buy-in on this, we could get him to commit the planning resources that would be needed to put this together. Thank you for that thought, Roger. Sometimes a solution is sitting right there waiting to be discovered. In the meantime, I think we should try to come up with alternatives, although this one may be tough to beat."
Malcom stood and climbed aboard his ship. "Roger, is that thruster finished? If so, I think I’m going for a ride. I think better when I’m out there."
Roger replied with a grin, "It’s fixed, as far as you know."
Gerald laughed as Malcom pulled the hatch shut.
I returned to the
Mabel
and raised Garrett on the comm. "Hey, I need a favor. Malcom Barber is about to leave the station. I need you to shadow him if possible. I want to know if he meets up with anyone."
Garrett replied, "I could do that. The sensors on this ship extend much farther out than the sensors on his. I should be able to stay safely just outside of his sensor field."
I smiled. "Just keep in mind, if he is meeting up with someone else, they may be better equipped. We just had a long discussion about some very serious topics. I don’t want him playing the spoiler for any plans we are trying to put together before we have a chance to flesh them out. I’ll fill you in on what we came up with as you go."
I sat in the cockpit of the
Mabel
as Garrett Rourke moved the
Jess
out of Bay-12. Malcom piloted his ship to the Arithi colony, where he parked it in high orbit. No attempt was made to visit the planet, nor was there any detectible comm broadcasts. It appeared as though Malcom Barber was doing exactly as he said, sitting and thinking. The Arithi colony sat on a large island in the middle of the single ocean that covered 95 percent of the planet. It was indeed a place where one could go to search their thoughts.
I moved up to level 1 for a meeting with the new Governor to discuss our potential plan. "I think there is an ample supply of prisoners. We could even start it as a voluntary program where time in the labor program is counted as double time toward their sentences."
Cal replied, "Who would trade time in a cushy prison for hard labor?"
I laughed. "I don't think the prisons on most of these colonies are all that cushy, Governor. A quick look at the stats that are available suggests you have a high chance of being maimed or killed while incarcerated. The colonies use that harsh environment as a deterrent to conducting criminal acts. On the surface at least, this looks like a win win win. We win by eliminating slavery in this sector. The slavers win by going legit. And the colonies win by greatly reducing their prison populations.
"Let’s face it, most of those being kidnapped for slavery are being sent to work camps for mining. For a few hundred credits you could buy a prison laborer that will produce a thousand times that amount for you over the course of a few years. All you have to do is feed them. You could also consider it a win for the mine owners as well. They would no longer have to operate in the shadows."
Cal rocked back in his high-backed chair. "The idea is intriguing. In one negotiation, we could be rid of the biggest threat to this sector. Instead of colonists leaving, they might actually flock here. This might even end up as a model for the whole alliance. I will commit a team to putting together a plan for this, Mr. Beutcher."
Cal looked up at his ceiling. "Imagine, Mr. Beutcher, what if the Omega sector became a wealthy sector like Alpha!"
I laughed. "I think you are getting a little ahead of the game, Governor. You might be able to drastically improve the standard of living for most out here, but as far as becoming wealthy? I don’t think Omega has the resources necessary to accomplish such a task. Let’s try to focus on getting a deal put together for the slavers. If we can end this abomination without shedding blood, it would be a huge accomplishment unto itself."
In the week that followed, the Governor formed up the beginnings of a plan. I was sent out to the four largest colonies as a liaison to feel out the Governors for the level of cooperation they might provide. The four Governors were the only leaders Cal Hoog had spoken with since taking office. Each was elated with the prospect of eliminating the constant slaver threats. On my return from the fourth colony, I made a stop at Effica to speak with the former Governor. Tanni Marcos was not happy with his captivity.
Tanni said, "I don’t have access to what I need out here, Mr. Beutcher. My staff is no longer cooperating with me. I have had to prepare my own meals for the past week!"
I replied, "Life can be difficult sometimes, Mr. Marcos. I have a proposal to run by you that might help change your situation. I need to make contact with whoever is in charge of the slavers. I know that you know who that is and how to get in touch with them. I need that contact. If you cooperate, I might be able to arrange for a chef and a housekeeper for you in return."
Tanni shook his head. "What guarantee do I have that they would stay and not just leave like the others?"
I replied, "Because they would not be in your employ. They would be free citizens, employed by SS241; if they are treated well, I am certain we could find you two such workers. If the proposal I am working comes to fruition, we may be able to eventually get you off this planet."
Tanni crossed his arms. "What makes you think those people will deal with you at all? The only deal they made with me was that they would leave me alone if I stayed out of their way. What can you offer that is different?"
I smiled. "I have a proposal that could greatly increase their profits while legitimizing their business. I can’t give you any further details, as its at too early a stage to reveal such. Now, are you willing to cooperate? If not, I have other avenues available to me. They aren’t exactly invisible with their operations."
Tanni Marcos was desperate for a good meal. The information was provided, and I departed Effica for SS241. While en route, I placed a comm call to the channel Tanni Marcos had provided.
The comm display soon filled with an image of a Talisan. The Talisans had long slender faces, a light brown skin, and dark red hair. Their protruding lower jaws and sharp teeth gave them a sinister look.
The Talisan offered a stern look. "Who are you and how did you access this channel?"
I replied, "My name is Knog Beutcher. I am a spokesman for the new Governor of SS241. I am certain that you are aware that there is a new Governor. What I have for you is a business proposal that may be quite profitable to your organization."
The Talisan snarled, "We are profitable enough, Mr. Beutcher. Tell me why you should not be sorry for making this call."
I nodded. "May I have a name by which to address you, Sir? And I am certain you will find the proposal I have is well worth a discussion."
The Talisan turned his chin up to show a superior attitude as he replied, "My name is Moor Dearls. So, Governor Marcos is no longer fully in control. He will have to be dealt with for his deceit."